Chris --
I'm trying to find a polite way to say that you are speaking from ignorance. For instance, the Friends have only had one work project that involved removing parts from locomotives and that involved readying non-operational 483 and 492 for asbestos removal. I know because I was the Friends project leader, and we worked with Bob Wright the CMO to insure that all parts were tagged properly and stored in a designated boxcar. I don't recall that you were involved or even around, so where do you get your "information"? I recall you try to be factual and thorough in your comments, but this time you slipped your trolley.
As for 489, which is part of the operational fleet, to the best of my knowledge the only involvement by the Friends was trying to locate missing parts and to fabricate replacement piping. Just who are these mysterious "volunteers" you speak of? Some facts please.